It's Day Two the Annual COMFWB Trade Fair. Learn more
Day Two of the Annual COMFWB Trade Fair.Learn more

second annual
regional trade fair
& Gala dinner

22nd - 24th September 2021

Lusaka, Zambia
New Opportunity
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CONSULTANCY FOR REVIEWING THE COMFWB CHARTER AND DRAFTING COMFWB BOARD CHARTER -RE-ADVERTISED
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Latest News

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November 15, 2025
Innovation & Influence: FOWEK President's Breakfast drives women's economic transformation

The FOWEK Presidentโ€™s Breakfast on November 14th brought together 100+ powerful women, government leaders (including PS Hon. Regina Ombam!), and regional partners for a morning of "Innovation & Influence." The energy was next level! From the dazzling African Avant-Garde fashion to the innovation buzzing at the exhibition, and the well-deserved recognition at the FOWEK Sterling Awardsโ€”this was more than an event, it was a movement

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November 14, 2025
COMFWB Malawi Chapter trains 20 members on AfCFTA trainer of trainers

20 COMFWB Malawi members just completed a vital AfCFTA Trainer of Trainers (ToT) program! The goal? Boosting knowledge of the African Continental Free Trade Area, building capacity to train others, and prepping women entrepreneurs to conquer the Single African Market! Trade in goods, services, and market access strategies were all covered. Get ready to scale beyond borders!

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November 13, 2025
COMFWB Libya - Promoting business ties: meeting at the italian embassy

A high-level meeting took place on November 12, 2025, at the Italian Embassy in Tripoli with the Women's Business Committee of the Tripoli Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the COMESA Businesswomen's Association (COMFWB), Libya Chapter. ๐‚๐ก๐š๐ข๐ซ๐ž๐ ๐›๐ฒ ๐‡.๐„. ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ˆ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐š๐ง ๐€๐ฆ๐›๐š๐ฌ๐ฌ๐š๐๐จ๐ซ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Œ๐ฌ. ๐ˆ๐›๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ๐š๐ฆ ๐๐ž๐ง ๐€๐ฆ๐ž๐ซ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐œ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐ง ๐ž๐ง๐ก๐š๐ง๐œ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐›๐ข๐ฅ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐ซ๐š๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ซ๐š๐๐ž ๐š๐ง๐ ๐Ÿ๐š๐œ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‹๐ข๐›๐ฒ๐š๐ง ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐œ๐ข๐ฉ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐ˆ๐ญ๐š๐ฅ๐ข๐š๐ง ๐ž๐ฑ๐ก๐ข๐›๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ. ๐“๐ก๐ž ๐‹๐ข๐›๐ฒ๐š๐ง ๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐ ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ž๐ช๐ฎ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ๐ž๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐€๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐š๐ง๐จ ๐ข๐ง ๐…๐ข๐ž๐ซ๐š (๐Œ๐ข๐ฅ๐š๐ง) (๐๐จ๐ฏ ๐Ÿ‘๐ŸŽ - ๐ƒ๐ž๐œ ๐Ÿ•, ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ“). The Italian Embassy committed to providing necessary support and facilitating future participations, underscoring the strong commitment to boosting women's economic empowerment and cross-border business development.

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November 6, 2025
Dumar iyo DADAAL-the COMFWB Djibouti successfully accomplished Regional Caravan, establishing foundations for four new branches

The Dumar iyo DADAAL- the COMFWB Djibouti Regional Caravan was a powerful journey across all 4 regions of Djibouti : Dikhil, Ali Sabieh, Obock et Tadjourah ! The leaders of the association connected with women entrepreneurs, laying the foundation for their regional branches

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November 2, 2025
Empowering women in Cassava Cluster : three days of hands-on empowerment in Busia County - KENYA !

The COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) recently conducted an intensive, action-packed three-day capacity building training for the women of the Tangakona Commercial Village Farmers Cooperative Society in Busia County, Kenya, with expert facilitation from Farm Concern International. This hands-on training served as a combined kitchen, classroom, and business incubator, focusing on empowering the women with real-world skills across the entire cassava value chain, which included learning smart growing techniques, creating value by processing raw cassava into high-quality products like baked goods, developing strong business practices such as branding and market access, and mastering essential financial management skills to ensure their enterprises are profitable and sustainable for the future of their community.

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October 31, 2025
Public Procurement reform in Bujumbura: focus on efficiency and gender inclusion

A key exchange meeting on Public Procurement was held in Bujumbura on October 31, 2025, aimed at strengthening transparency and efficiency in the sector through constructive dialogue among stakeholders and ministry leadership. The collaborative session successfully clarified procedures and improved synergy for future public contract management. Most significantly, the meeting addressed the underrepresentation of women in procurement, resulting in a landmark decision to establish a 10% quota specifically reserved for women in public procurement processes to foster their active economic inclusion, with the Association of Business Women of Burundi (AFAB) being a key participant in advocating for this change.

Our results in numbers

Our results in numbers

10,000+

Jobs created

Through our programs and initiatives, COMFWB has contributed to the creation of over 10,000 jobs. These job opportunities have a meaningful impact on local economies and the livelihoods of individuals, advancing our mission of women's economic empowerment.

$50M

Investment facilitation

Over the past five years, COMFWB has successfully facilitated over $US50 million in investments for women-led businesses across the COMESA region. This substantial financial support has driven economic growth and empowerment for women entrepreneurs in our network.

50%

Membership Increase

Since our inception, we have achieved a 50% increase in membership across the various COMFWB chapters, demonstrating our growing impact and outreach within the COMESA region.

100,000+

Women-owned businesses empower

COMFWB has trained over 100,000 women, equipping them with essential business skills, cross-border trade knowledge, and other tools necessary for success. These women are now empowered to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship and cross-border commerce, contributing to economic growth and regional integration.

1,500+

Cross-border collaborations

COMFWB has facilitated 1,500 cross-border collaborations among women entrepreneurs in the COMESA region. These collaborations have led to increased trade, knowledge sharing, and economic opportunities, fostering regional integration and empowerment.

2,500+

Women Entrepreneurs Supported by Incubators

COMFWB has enabled 2,500 women entrepreneurs to access essential business support services through partnerships with business incubators. This initiative has provided women with valuable resources and guidance to enhance their business ventures and overall economic success.

About us

Who Are We

The Comesa Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) is a COMESA institution which was established in July 1993 in Zimbabwe with the endorsement of the Authority which is made up of Heads of States and Governments of the COMESA member states.

COMFWB acts as a forum for the exchange of ideas and experience among women entrepreneurs; an instrument through which the appropriate portion of COMESA Women in Development Programmes are implemented; a forum for network among women entrepreneurs and an instrument for encouraging women to set up or expand existing enterprises.โ€

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About us

Testimonials

Catherine Olab
Farmer
Tangakona Commercial Village, Busia - Kenya

I thank God for COMFWB for opening our minds through the training offered to us. I have benefited very much from this training. I am now able to train other groups and also other trainers on value addition for the cassava produced here in Busia.

Maureen sumbwe
Chief Executive Officer
ZFAWIB -Zambia

The hard work by the women in business in Zambia is now yielding results especially with the help coming from stakeholders like COMESA, COMFWB and ZAM.

Our Partners